Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Tele man
...ethanol "eats" aluminum.
...and (did you know, I didn't!) that it's also electrically conductive...not a nice situation inside a fuel tank.
|
What's wrong with conducting electricity? It doesn't create electricity, it conducts it.
Also, a spark won't ignite a liquid fuel. That's why there's never been a reported tank explosion from a faulty fuel pump, that I'm aware of.
IF you want to test the theory, dump some 190 Alcohol in a bucket. Secure a lid to the bucket, and secure a glove to a hole in the lid so that it's all airtight.
Inside the bucket, place a torch lighter (the sparky thing), so that you can reach into the glove and pick it up. Click it a few times, and be amazed when nothing happens.
Do the same thing with a bucket of gasoline, and once again, be amazed when nothing happens.
Obviously, you probably shouldn't try this without a professional present. You could die.
In reality, the only way you'll get a spark to ignite gasoline is in the case where the spark transfers enough energy to the liquid fuel that it begins to vaporize it
in the presence of oxygen. If it's in a bucket, you'll have to wait until the lid pops off the bucket because of the pressure building from the phase change, then when oxygen comes in, wait for the spark to be introduced to fuel (vaporized) and air in the proper quantities before anything spectacular happens.
Of course, once it
does light off, you won't have a chance to run.